


i'll sing what you like (if you shout it straight back at me)

by CallicoKitten



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Bonding, Gen, Kid Fic, Pre-Slash, Ray Palmer's self worth issues will be the death of me i s2g, Time Travel, hopefully, that im going to build into something bigger, this is essentially a little episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 15:03:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6199645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallicoKitten/pseuds/CallicoKitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There has been a shift in the time stream involving Doctor Palmer."</p><p>Palmer looks up at that, expression caught between excitement and uncertainty, "What me?" he asks, blinking.</p><p>Hunter throws him a filthy look and scowls back at Gideon, "Explain," he barks.</p><p>"It appears Doctor Palmer no longer exists," Gideon informs them brightly. She flickers and vanishes and in her place is a flickering front page news story. "In 1986 an explosion destroyed the Palmer residence, killing everyone inside."</p><p>-</p><p>or, len is forced to hang out (briefly) with not one, but two rays</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll sing what you like (if you shout it straight back at me)

**Author's Note:**

> this was initially part of this really long and slightly ridiculous ray/len fic ive been working on since like, episode three but i felt like this, and a few other scenarios could make their own nice little series (if i keep the motivation up) of gradual, slow burn ray/len (which i may or may not call "the unravelling of leonard snart") 
> 
> and anyway, what self-respecting time travel show doesn't have an episode where they have to go back and rescue one of their younger selves?
> 
> title is from los campesinos': we throw parties, you throw knives

It all starts on a relatively slow day - which are a rarity now Len has agreed to travel through time and space with Captain Angst and his band of heroes - with Gideon interrupting them as they're about to drop out of the temporal zone. Captain Hunter is still very much on his "stop Savage while he's young" method of thinking and this has mostly resulted in Stein and Palmer talking themselves in circles about paradoxes and multiple universes. It's certainly not been pleasant.

 _Anyway,_ Gideon interrupts Hunter, as he's just about to fling them into the Wild West (Len is unspeakably grateful for her interruption.) "I don't think that's wise, Captain," she says cryptically.

Since it's been a slow day, Len enjoys the look of utter despair on Hunter's face far more than he should. "And why might that be, Gideon?" Hunter asks.

"There has been a shift in the time stream involving Doctor Palmer."

Palmer looks up at that, expression caught between excitement and uncertainty, "What me?" he asks, blinking.

Hunter throws him a _filthy_ look and scowls back at Gideon, "Explain," he barks.

"It appears Doctor Palmer no longer exists," Gideon informs them brightly. She flickers and vanishes and in her place is a flickering front page news story. "In 1986 an explosion destroyed the Palmer residence, killing everyone inside."

There's a very heavy pause following that little _bomb_ shell which is broken by Ray making a soft, distressed noise in the back of his throat and spluttering, "Wait, so I'm dead? As in _dead_ dead?"

Kendra puts a hand on his knees, "We'll figure this out," she says, kindly. "We _will_ figure this out, right?" she says to Hunter, less kindly.

Hunter has crossed to Gideon's panel and is currently scanning through the news stories she's pulled up for them. "Yes, yes," he says, distractedly. "Any other disruptions around that date? Anything that stands out?"

"Not that I can detect, Captain," Gideon replies.

Hunter hums, drumming his fingers on the desk.

"I'm sorry," Stein interrupts. "But we are assuming that this is the work of Savage, correct?"

There's a general murmur of agreement and Jax says, "Well, we don't know many other people out for Ray's blood."

"Oh, I don't know," Len drawls, throwing Ray a sidelong glance. "I can think of a _few._ "

Everyone ignores him, annoyingly, except for Ray, who shoots him a hurt look. They've all been very gentle with him since Mick but since Len isn't a great fan of being treated like he's made of glass - or _talking_ , which Palmer has assured him on multiple occasions is what emotionally mature people do in these situations - this has mostly involved leaving him to his own devices and occasionally, throwing him significant looks. Except for Ray, of course. Len privately likes to think that this whole _mess_ is karma for Ray being relentlessly annoying.

"But wouldn't it then follow," Stein continues. "That Savage has somehow become aware not only of Mr Palmer's identity but of _all_ our identities? Not only that but who we were, where we're from and more importantly, when he can strike?"

"Yes that," Ray says, pointing at Stein and nodding. "We should be worried about that." He looks to Hunter, "Right?"

Hunter is rocking on the balls of his feet, "Yes," he says tentatively. "It's something we can't rule out. In which case, we also have to worry about whoever informed Savage of Doctor Palmer's identity."

"So maybe it's not Savage," Sara puts forward. "Maybe it's Chronos."

"We _did_ royally piss him off," Jax agrees.

"I think Captain Hunter 'royally pissed off' _all_ of the Time Masters," Stein adds unhelpfully.

"But we can fix this?" Kendra asks again, just as Ray, who is frowning at the news stories flickering past, asks, "But why me?" Kendra pats him distractedly on the arm and Hunter sighs, as though this whole thing has been orchestrated solely to annoy him.

" _Yes,_ " he hisses, "As I've explained to _you people_ multiple times it takes a while for events to be set in stone!" He turns away from them all, coat swishing dramatically behind him. "This is the _last_ thing we need!" he snarls.

"Now, now, Captain," Len says. "If there's _anyone_ who should be throwing a hissy fit, it's Raymond. He is, after all, the one who has been regulated to non-entity. _Again_."

Sara elbows him in the ribs for that one. Getting him to be nicer to Raymond has been a kind of pet project for her, it's going nowhere and as far as Len can tell, is benefiting none of them. "So what do we do?" she asks, loudly.

"I'm _thinking_ ," Hunter snaps.

"Well, we go back in time and stop it from happening, right?" Kendra says.

"Precisely," Stein agrees. "Although we will  have to track down whomever is behind this and I'm assuming that won't be easy."

"Has anyone else considered the possibility that this is a trap?" Len asks. "It all seems _wildly_ convenient, don't you think?" And plain as day, to him at least. The Time Masters seem to be at least _somewhat_ interested in arresting their good Captain and what better way to lure him out than targeting his team?

"Snart's got a point," Jax says. Len shoots him a sharp little smile to thank him for his endorsement. Jax shifts uncomfortably.

While this is all going on, Ray asks, "But why me?" Again. And again, no one acknowledges him.

"The Time Masters wouldn't risk disrupting the timeline like that," Hunter says, rejoining the conversation. "But it _does_ sound like the work of a Time Master - or at least, a _former_ Time Master."

"There are _former_ Time Masters?" Jax asks, "Sorry, I just figured the Time Masters were the sort who took out anyone who tried to leave," he adds when Hunter shoots him a withering look. Hunter rolls his eyes.

By this point, the discussion has descended into anarchy, everyone putting forward their own ideas or theories about the who, what and why of it all and honestly, Len's worked with villains and rogues from all walks of life but he's never quite had a crew that could do with one of those team building retreats Lisa kept threatening him with.

Ray by now has stood up and made his way across to Gideon's holograms, staring mournfully at the photography of his younger-self beaming out at them. _Someone should pay attention to the Boy Scout before he hurts himself,_ Len thinks but doesn't say.

"Gideon," Ray says, "What - ah - what affect does my death have on the timeline?"

"Calculating," Gideon says. The others have started to pay attention by now which is good because when Gideon's done calculating she says, "It appears your death had a minimal affect on the time stream, Doctor Palmer."

And Len closes his eyes briefly because Ray might wear most of his emotions on his sleeve but he keeps his self-worth issues tamped so firmly down Len's not sure he's even _aware_ of them consciously. In Len's experience, it's those issues that do the most damage.

"I - uh - " Ray splutters, stepping back clumsily. "I have to go do a thing. Yeah, a - a thing..."  His voice is tight and he all but runs out of the room. After a few moments, Kendra stands and hurries after him.

"So now there's that," Hunter says, digging the heels of his hands into his forehead. " _Brilliant._ "

There's a rather awkward silence left in their wake, broken unsurprisingly by Stein. "Captain Hunter," he asks, in a low voice. "What will actually happen to Doctor Palmer if we leave the time stream with him aboard?"

Hunter shrugs, "He might be fine, he might disappear. This isn't exactly a _regular_ occurrence," he rubs at the back of his neck. "Time Masters use pseudonyms precisely so it doesn't and generally, they're not in the habit of picking up passengers." He punctuates this with a glare at all of them, like it's their fault he decided to involve them in his plan to steal a time machine and spend his days meddling in the lives of others. Len should probably be offended by this but he's too busy reeling internally from the sudden realisation that Hunter actually _chose_ to be called Rip Hunter, which tells him far more about the man than he ever cared to know.

(He also can't stop trying to decide what Rip's _real_ name is. Arthur, he thinks. Probably Arthur.)

Hunter runs a hand through his hair, "And I can't exactly _ask_ anyone about this."

"So we can't move the ship out of the temporal zone?" Sara asks.

Hunter shakes his head, "We'll have to use the jump ship, whatever we're planning to do. But considering Doctor Palmers apparent... _unimportance_ it could very well be the work of a Time Master. Or at least a rogue one."

"So, trap," Len says, triumphantly.

"Trap," Sara agrees.

Hunter sighs again, "That would seem the most likely explanation."

"Awesome," Jax says.

Len stands up, " _Excellent_. I think I'll go wait in _there_ where it's quiet while you come up with our latest ingenious plan to save the most _useless_ member of our team."

Sara rolls her eyes at him and Jax tuts loudly but none of them scold him for being mean to their favourite idiot. Len's honestly a little disappointed though he doesn't really want to know why. "Come and find me when we're ready to go," he throws over his shoulder as he leaves.

\---

Their plan, rather predictably is awful. Len would like to think that it's mostly because he wasn't around to object to the part that involved _kidnapping_ a young Ray Palmer for his own good and also to the part where he would be doing to the kidnapping. He won't be alone either, no, accompanying him on this completely _reasonable_ quest is Professor Stein while the rest of team get to track down the villain of the week.

Len has been tapped for this particular mission for his proficiency at breaking and entering, Stein, Len imagines, is accompanying him mostly to make sure he's not too rough with the kid. Which isn't particularly fair because so far, the only one of their team who has shown an inclination towards the drugging and kidnapping of young boys is Stein himself. (Of course, when Len points this out all he gets is a few exasperated sighs and dirty looks.)

Breaking in to the Palmer family home is _laughably_ easy, not only because of the shoddy alarm system but because there doesn't seem to be an adult on the property at all. Not even an underpaid teenage _nanny._ Ray had assured them that his parents would be away this weekend, visiting relatives in National City and Len only finds this slightly unsettling when he comes face to face with a wall of Palmer family photos and remembers that _competent_ parents generally don't leave their very young children alone for long periods of time.

There isn't even a _guard dog._

There is, however, a rather large snake making its way slowly and steadily around young Ray's bedroom, brushing by legions of toys and bug-tanks and the kind of expensive nonsense Len could only _dream_ of as a child. (Or, in 1986, steal.) Len stares at the snake warily as they stand in the boy's bedroom and begins idly rehearsing the phone call he and Stein will be making from police station.

The child in question though, seems remarkably unconcerned by the sudden appearance of two strangers in his bedroom. He's playing video games when they come upon him, sprawled out on the plush carpet in too-big Star Trek pyjamas. He looks up when they enter and after a fleeting frown he pauses the game and stands up, "Hi," he greets, brightly.

Len looks at Stein, who looks back at him. Stein's probably also realised that they are the two _least_ qualified people on the team to deal with small children and is cursing the day he agreed to follow Rip Hunter into this mess. The silence between them grows and Len wonders how long they can stand here before little Ray decides to call the police.

"After _you,_ Professor," he says eventually, with as much of a sneer as he can muster. "I'm a thief, remember? Probably not the person to take the lead here. Raymond is at an _impressionable_ age, after all."

Stein scowls at him and mutters something like _and there is a reason Clarissa and I decided not to have children_ but he steps forwards anyway, a little nervously and drops to his knees before the boy, looking gravely serious. "Hullo, Raymond," he says, in his most commanding tone. "My name is Rick Star and I am here with a message from the future."

Little Ray's eyes practically pop out of his skull.

"Not bad, Professor," Len mutters.

\---

Stein's lie works and he looks increasingly smug as they walk back towards the jump ship, Ray bouncing between them and asking a million questions without pausing to hear the answers. It's a little worrying that Ray bought Stein's spiel so easily. He's lucky they really _are_ time travelling heroes from the future. Or something like it, at least. Len has mostly tried to avoid speaking to the child, he may have been party to the kidnap of a five year old but he's _certainly_ not going to be involved in the _care_ of aforementioned child.

So he hopes, anyway.

These hopes are of course dashed as soon as the jump ship docks with the Waverider. One of them will have to pilot the jump ship back to 1986 and, up until the moment Stein bends down to explain to Raymond that he has to go and fight the bad guy and his good _friend_ will be taking care of him, Len has assumed it would have been him.

"You can't _leave,_ Stein," Len hisses.

"Well, Jackson might need me," Stein says, "Kendra can help you. And we can't very well leave her in charge of _two_ Rays, can we?"

Len scowls at him.

"Besides," Stein says mildly.  "We should probably try to keep the Rays apart. We don't know what affect it will have on either of them if they meet."

 _None,_ Len thinks bitterly and his brief moment of silence is all Stein needs to shove him rather unceremoniously off the ship, little Ray following him eagerly. Stein salutes the boy before he takes off and Ray returns the gesture in kind, trying to look serious. Stein's gone before Len can rehash his argument of being and criminal and therefore not prime babysitting material and Len's left alone with an overly trusting five year old in the Waverider's hangar.

Len realises he has no idea what he's meant to do now. He looks down at Ray - little Ray - who smiles calmly back and seems not to be at all surprised by the fact that his armed kidnapper has taken him aboard a space ship. It raises questions about Ray's psyche that Len doesn't want answered.

Actually, maybe it explains a _lot_ about Ray's psyche.

He's saved by Kendra's timely arrival who peers around the corner and smiles brightly when she sees Len's small charge. "Hey there," she says, bending down so she's at eye level with the kid.

Ray smiles bashfully and presses himself a little closer to Len's leg. Len is very much not comfortable with this. He sighs, "She won't bite, Raymond."

Little Ray seems to find that hilarious and he giggles, extending a suddenly shy hand to Kendra. Kendra, still beaming, takes it and shakes his hand gently, "It's very nice to meet you, Ray. I'm Kendra."

"Hi Kendra," Ray says, in a very soft voice. Kendra strokes his cheek and stands up.

"I think we should switch Rays," she says, to Len.

Honestly, Len could kiss her. "You are a _marvel,_ Kendra."

She grins, a little self-consciously, "So I've heard."

"And how _is_ our Boy Scout doing?" Len asks. He looks down at Little Ray, "Our _big_ Boy Scout."

Kendra sighs and looks back towards the rest of the ship, a wistful look in her eyes. "He's doing okay," she looks back to Len. "He's in the lab. How's _little_ Ray doing?"

"Well, Professor Stein managed to convince him that a spacecraft was probably not the best place for his pet python so there's that."

Kendra laughs and bends down again, extending a hand to Little Ray. "Want to come with me, Ray? I'll show you the bridge."

Ray brightens at this but before taking her hand, he looks up at Len. It takes Len a few moments to realise the kid's asking for _permission._ "Go, _please_ ," he says.

Kendra gives him a sharp look and Len shrugs, Little Ray is even more oblivious than Big Ray so he'll never figure out that Len's being _rude._ Kendra takes the kid's hand and leads him out of the room and Len takes the opportunity to enjoy his few Ray-less minutes before holstering his cold-gun and heading towards the lab.

When he gets there, Ray is folded in on himself, breathing slowly and deliberately and shaking slightly. Len rolls his eyes because _honestly,_ if this is Kendra's definition of Ray being _okay_ he'd hate to see Ray _not_ okay but then he realises that Ray has probably been putting a brave face on things.

He tests this theory out by clearing his throat to announce his presence and yes, Ray's head shoots upwards and his whole body jerks, like he's been caught doing something wrong and Len's fairly sure he catches a glimpse of tears that he won't embarrass either of them by mentioning.

"Snart," Ray says, waving a screwdriver in the direction of his suit helmet. "You're back. How did - How did saving me go?"

" _Splendid_ ," Len says, pulling himself up onto one of the tables. "You were alone in that house, you know."

Ray nods, "Well, yeah. My parents trusted me. They knew I'd call if something was wrong." He turns away from Len and starts working at his helmet. As far as Len can tell he's tightening and retightening the same screw.

Len arches a brow, "Like two men from the future abducting you and bringing you aboard a space craft?"

Ray smiles faintly, "Maybe I _was_ a little too trusting." He fiddles with his helmet some more and then pauses, "You think I'll remember any of this?"

Len sighs, leaning back against the wall, "Raymond, even if you _did_ , do you seriously think it would have any notable effect on your personality?"

"Well, actually, being kidnapped by heroes from the future and taken on board a space ship sounds like a pretty fun adventure for five year old me."

"I can only _imagine_ ," Len mutters.

"So, did you - uh - do you know if they found out who did this to me?"

Len closes his eyes. He had hoped for some silly reason that _this_ Ray would at least have the decency to be quiet. "Not being _psychic,_ Raymond, no I don't."

He hears something that might be Ray standing up, but he doesn't open his eyes to look. "You know, I've been thinking," Ray says and there's something in his voice that doesn't sound right. "It makes sense they'd choose me. You know, Stein made an unbelievable amount of contributions to science and if Sara hadn't been around Oliver's life probably would have turned out _very_ differently. Kendra's immortal and Jefferson's important to Stein and - and you - well you're probably pretty important too."

Len opens his eyes, keeps his head tipped back so he's looking up at the ceiling. Without him, Mick probably would have killed someone messily and ended up on death row for his troubles. Lisa would have turned out a lot worse than she did - hell, Lisa might not have even been born without him around. His mom wouldn't have had any reason to stick around with good old Lew, after all.

"I looked it up, you know. How the world turns out without me and Gideon's right. I don't matter. My impact is just... It's so _generic._ Without me, it's Curtis Holt's company that buys out Oliver's company and he's _so_ much better at it than me! And Oliver and Felicity get together much sooner and - "

 The loud thud of Ray's fist making contact with the metal table top takes them both by surprise. Len disguises the fact that his entire body jolted by pretending he was shuffling himself backwards across the table and Ray stares down at his fist in wonder, "I - uh - I'm sorry," he says and Len's honestly not sure whether he's speaking to Len or the table or his own hand.

He looks at Ray properly then, Ray with his slightly messy hair and casual tops and slacks, Ray with his quick smile and ridiculous ability to find light - or at least, copious pop culture references - in _any_ given situation and tries to look beyond that.

Ray might _appear_ the least damaged of their team but Len's willing to bet that's not quite true.

("You know," Ray had told him - or rather, Ray had said once in his presence - after a couple of shots of space whiskey. They'd been celebrating, or bored maybe, Len happened to be the last one conscious and Ray was, unsurprisingly, a chatty drunk. "When I was dead I spent almost five months alone on an abandoned construction site before Dahrk got me. Five months of nothing but giant rats and cockroaches for company." He smiles almost wistfully.

"What did you _eat_?" Len had asked, not out of _concern,_ more out of schadenfreude.

"Whatever I could find at first, then I had to be a little more resourceful. You know, roaches don't taste half bad if you cook 'em half right and they are surprisingly tricky to - Hey!" He brightens, "Maybe that's what I could do when I get back! Sustainable food supplies!"

Len had jerked awake for a few nights afterwards from disjointed dreams of over-sized cockroaches and crushing solitude and wondered how Ray wasn't torn at the edges like the rest of them. Then, he'd reflected, the man had decided to _stay dead_ and mostly _alone,_ as far as Len knows, which doesn't exactly sound like the sanest of options.)

Ray doesn't look angry, that's the thing. He doesn't look annoyed that someone has decided to kill him, to rewrite history without him in it, he looks sad and lost and a little bit afraid. Every bit the puppy Len's always known him to be. Len sighs and tells himself that what he says next is for Sara and Kendra rather than for Ray's benefit, "You matter, Raymond." He says, levelly. "Maybe you don't matter in the grand scheme of things but, as Captain Hunter was so good to inform us, _none_ of us do. Not really. But you matter. To your friends, to your team."

It's a simple enough sentiment, but Ray looks at him like Len's just handed him the world. Len sighs again, "And me. You matter to me. But if you tell anyone that I will abandon you in some dark little corner of history." It's a lie, he tells himself and he begrudgingly owes Ray his life anyway, so he can at least afford him this.

Ray smiles and _god,_ the tears are back, "Thanks, Len." He says.

There's an infinitely uncomfortable moment of eye contact (that makes Len shudder internally) that's only broken by a sudden peal of laughter echoing about the bridge. Ray turns towards it, an odd expression on his face.

\---

It turns out the orchestrator of their latest catastrophe was, in fact, a rogue Time Master. Well, a banished Time Master, after the Waverider so he could get back home. The rest of the team manage to subdue him without killing him (which Len rewards Sara for with a very, _very_  strong cocktail) and then of course there is the question of what to do with him. In the end, since they couldn't leave him unattended or keep him on board, Hunter contacts Eve Baxter and has her whisk him off to what Ray decides to call Time-Jail. It's just another in a very long list of surreal experiences Len has lived through that he doesn't care to dwell on and he hopes that like most of their other adventures he'll forget it quickly enough.

Len honestly doesn't know why he bothers hoping anything _ever_ anymore because Ray has rather frighteningly decided that they are _friends_ for some reason now.

(And Len, despite himself, _doesn't_ want to immediately off himself every time Ray opens his mouth anymore.)

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [tumblr](http://paracosmss.tumblr.com/) maybe? i need more dc blogs to follow


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